The invention relates to an appliance for the removal of hairs growing from skin, which appliance is provided with a clamping device for clamping a hair and subsequently extracting the hair at least partly from the skin, and with a cutting device for cutting through, adjacent the skin, of a hair which has been partly extracted from the skin.
An appliance of the kind mentioned in the opening paragraph is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,088,205. The known appliance comprises a comb-shaped cutting member capable of oscillation and provided with a row of cutter elements. The cutter elements of the cutting member bear on a foil which is provided with hair trap openings. The cutting member further comprises a clamping element arranged on either side of each cutter element in a fixed position relative to the cutting member, for example a flexible metal strip or a rubber strip. A hair penetrating one of the hair trap openings during operation is first clamped between the foil and one of the clamping elements, the hair being extracted partly from the skin as a result of the movement of the clamping element relative to the foil. The hair is subsequently cut through owing to a cooperation between a cutter element adjoining the relevant clamping element and an edge of the relevant hair trap opening, a portion of the hair clamped in between the foil and the clamping element being cut off. Since the hair shortened in this manner is no longer clamped in, the shortened hair returns into the skin, the end of the shortened hair sinking to below the surface of the skin. A smooth shaving result is thus achieved through the use of the clamping elements, the skin also remaining smooth for a reasonably long period after shaving.
A disadvantage of the known appliance is that the process of partly extracting the hairs from the skin before they are cut through is somewhat painful. The removal of hairs by means of the known appliance is more painful as a result of this than is the removal of hairs by means of a shaver which is usual and known per se and which performs exclusively a cutting action. The user of the known appliance has no degree of choice. The user will normally achieve a smoother shaving result with the known appliance than with a shaver having a cutting action only, but the removal of hairs by means of the known appliance is always painful to a certain extent.